


Snapshots

by dreamsdark



Category: Fire Emblem Echoes: Mou Hitori no Eiyuu Ou | Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia, Fire Emblem Series
Genre: Gen, Modern AU, a bakery is involved, they're roommates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-12
Updated: 2018-08-12
Packaged: 2019-06-26 03:42:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,019
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15655053
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dreamsdark/pseuds/dreamsdark
Summary: Finding a place to belong was easier than Lukas would have thought it to be.





	Snapshots

**Author's Note:**

> i had the honor of writing for the [March to Deliverance](https://twitter.com/MTD_Zine) zine, and since the copies have all been shipped, I'm allowed to share what i wrote for it!  
> (digital copies are still available if anyone wants to support it tho, trust me it's amazing--if you like the rgb trio definitely get it)

It’s a cloudy Saturday morning when Forsyth asks Lukas to breakfast with him. He stumbles through hastily put together justifications about a special promotion, gift cards, Python never waking up before noon if he doesn’t have to—until Lukas cuts him off with a firm agreement.

So here they are, Forsyth walking ahead while Lukas follows. He talks about the cafe they’re going to for a bit, and Lukas listens quietly, realizing this is the first time they’ve been on an outing like this without Python present. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, but there’s an awkward moment where Forsyth realizes he’s been talking without a response for a full minute and suddenly cuts himself off. Usually, Python’s there for him to banter with, but not today.

“I’m listening,” Lukas reassures.

“Right!” And he continues like nothing happened.

Lukas gathers that the place they’re heading to is owned by Clive, the man Forsyth works for. It’s some anniversary of their opening, so they’re offering a free...something. A brilliantly-colored butterfly flies in front of them just then; Forsyth pauses in wonder and Lukas quickly captures the moment with his phone’s camera.

“Wonder what kind...” Further musing is cut short by Forsyth noticing the cafe appearing in view. He hesitates, but ends up speeding up just a little bit, Lukas following suit.

It’s a nondescript place, but has this quaint atmosphere that makes Lukas already want to return. A cheery lady greets them when they walk in. “Welcome!”

“Good morning!” Forsyth returns. He’s on good terms with the staff here, Lukas notes.

“Good morning.”

“Ooh, Forsyth’s friend! You’re...Luke?”

“Lukas,” he corrects, recalling his first meeting with Python.

“Eep, sorry! Lukas, right, I’ll remember that!”

“It’s alright, we’ve only—”

“Ah, I’m such a scatterbrain!” She shakes her head, and Lukas would’ve protested if she didn’t recover so quickly. “Anyway—I’m Tatiana!”

“Nice to meet you.”

Someone calls her name, and she quickly glances over to Forsyth, then back. “Welcome to the Deliverance Café! But I have to go—enjoy!” Tatiana finishes quickly, then hurries away.

“Maybe we’re a bit early…” Forsyth muses with a frown.  There’s someone at the register, though, so he leads Lukas there.

Lukas squints at the menu, reads a few of the names, and decides to leave it to Forsyth. “Have you any suggestions?”

“Me? A-alright!” As Forsyth orders, Lukas looks around. Being an early Saturday morning, there isn’t much reason for people to be up yet, so there’s only one table occupied. Still, he sits down to reserve a space—more people will come in soon.

After a while, Forsyth returns with their orders. He’s ordered a pastry with strawberry filling for Lukas, and scrawled over it in icing, there’s a message.

_Good morning!_

It’s in a messy scrawl, but somehow, he knows it’s Tatiana’s work and smiles.

“…Are you going to eat it?” Forsyth asks. He’d drifted off without realizing, and Forsyth’s already finished.

“I…” Eating it felt like it would ruin something precious. “It is food…” An idea strikes him, so he brings out his phone to take a picture of the pastry first.

“Oh! Well, you can always come back for more!”

“Mhm.” It’s just as sweet as he likes, and strawberries have always been his favorite.

* * *

 It was early on that Lukas had learned there was no one he could rely on but himself. He couldn’t remember anything substantial of his mother before she left, and his father had always preferred his older brother, being the child of his first wife—the woman he’d actually loved. Whatever few friends he managed to make despite his quiet nature soon left him with vague explanations that they simply _couldn’t_ be around him anymore. At first, he was devastated, but after witnessing his brother corner a girl he shared a few classes with, he simply accepted it as another thing he would never be allowed.

Still, it was impossible to not speak up when his brother had blamed him for something that was obviously his own fault. Lukas had _seen_ him take money out of his father’s wallet with his own eyes, but his brother was still denying it!

“Just tell the truth.” His father sounded both disappointed and resigned when talking to him, as usual.

“But I didn’t!” he insisted. What use would he have for money? He’d never wanted much—never was allowed much—but his brother was always looking for new shoes, new albums, new anything that caught his eye. After he inevitably lost interest he’d throw them at Lukas in a false show of generosity. Forcing his voice to be more calm, he repeated, “He took your money. I saw it.”

He could feel his brother glower at him, probably biting his tongue to stop himself from acting out too obviously. That barely registered, though, when his father sighed and said, “Lying only makes things worse.”

As usual, his words were useless. “Yes, Father.”

But Lukas hadn’t given up; next time, he’d have proof. Exactly how he would obtain said proof he had no clue, until the opportunity came in a digital camera he was gifted for his birthday. By chance, he happened to catch his brother reaching for something on a particularly high shelf, accidentally knocking over a framed family picture in the process.

The shatter made him flinch, but at least the click of the shutter was obscured by his brother’s cursing. And it was proof even his father couldn’t ignore.

His brother couldn’t, either.

Lukas quickly discovered his camera was good for a lot more than just that, bringing it everywhere he went to capture everything memorable. Who knew if he’d get to see any of these scenes again? Dandelions blooming in the cracks of the sidewalk, a rainbow right before sunset, seagulls flying low over the river, his camera falling into the water as his brother wrenched it from him and threw it over the bridge—

“That’s the last time…” Lukas barely heard his scorn as he watched his gift fall down, down, and finally disappear underwater. Once again, he’d had something precious torn away from— _No!_

_Not this time._

Barely thinking, he climbed over the bridge’s railing, then jumped, falling down, down, finally hitting the water with a cold splash.

“—Python, stop that!” Forsyth’s shriek snaps Lukas out of his memories so suddenly he feels like he’s been doused in freezing water.

“Loosen up, it’s _fiiiine_.” To prove his point, stress out Forsyth, or both, Python lets himself fall until he dangles from the railing only by his legs.

“ _Are you trying to kill me?_ ” Forsyth shrieks, grabbing onto his knees.

“Only a little.”

Lukas bites his tongue to stop himself from undoubtedly overreacting. Python’s fine, as he’d just said, and there’s no reason to—

“Lukas?” A touch on his shoulder surprises him into coughing.

“If you’re sick, you should wear a scarf,” Forsyth reminds.

So the one who’d startled him was Python, looking at him with an unreadable expression. “If something bothers—”

“I’m fine,” Lukas stresses. Forsyth and Python had already done enough by letting him stay with them when he had nowhere else to go, so he could hardly ask them for more—especially not something as trivial as this.

Python’s not the type to push, but Forsyth is, asking, “Something wrong?”

Well, if he insisted… “I fell off a bridge, during my childhood.” A story of a dumb kid, that was all.

“What did I tell you?” Forsyth points an accusing finger at Python.

“Sorry ‘bout that. Didn’t know.” His apology is curt, but Lukas can tell it’s genuine.

“It’s alright.”

Still ignoring Forsyth, Python offers, “Wanna go for some hot chocolate?”

Eyes practically sparkling, Forsyth looks at Lukas, who nods. It’s chilly, and he can’t pass up an opportunity to indulge his sweet tooth.

* * *

 Lukas doesn’t even remember telling Forsyth when his birthday is, but he wakes up to a clumsily-wrapped present on his nightstand. The thought of it lets him keep his practiced smile through hordes of uncooperative customers and his boss’s particularly bad mood.

Retail’s never been an enjoyable job, but after he’d cut off all contact with his family, he’d needed something to keep himself afloat. Lukas had only managed to land part-time positions, though—as expected, with the city’s already limited openings and his lack of connections. At least he could make his share of rent by taking two jobs at once, even if he barely had energy for anything after.

At least he has going home to look forward to.

When he finally gets the door unlocked, it’s well past midnight, but he can see the light from the kitchen flickering as usual. “Python…?” he calls softly—Forsyth keeps to a strict sleep schedule, but Python’s liable to stay up until sunrise. No response, so Lukas figures he must have just forgotten to turn the light off. His way to the kitchen passes by the TV, which is also still on. _Seriously?_ _Better turn that off…oh._

The light from the TV screen is just enough to make out Forsyth and Python asleep on the sofa—Python, sprawled out with one arm squished against his side and the other brushing the floor, and Forsyth half on top of him with his legs dangling off the armrest. In front of them, a somewhat lopsided cake with red balloons drawn in icing sits on the table.

It’s such a—such a _kind_ gesture Lukas has to keep it—

_Flash._

…except the flash goes off, startling the light sleeper Python into jolting upright and knocking Forsyth onto the floor, waking him as well. Lukas stands frozen until Python rubs his eyes, noticing him.

“…We ain’t going anywhere,” he says, bemused.

Lukas quickly shoves his phone into his pocket. _How to explain…_ “I…I was just—”

“Don’t hit your head, Fors.”

Forsyth gets up much slower, unused to waking differently from his routine. “Lukas, you’re finally back!” A yawn. “We were waiting for you.”

“...I appreciate it.” _More than words can express._

“Now we can celebrate!” His enthusiasm is dampened by his sleepiness, but it’s more than enough. “You didn’t open your gift, did you?”

“My apologies, I had to run to work.”

Forsyth is quick to smooth over his worries. “At least you can see it now! Hm, gift or cake first…Python, what do you think?”

“Sleep.”

“Not helping.”

Silently, Lukas agrees, but he quickly retrieves the gift from his room and places it next to the cake.

“Well? Go on!” Forsyth is clearly impatient to see his reaction, and Python is watching intently despite his earlier comment.

Lukas unwraps the present carefully, taking care not to rip anything. Inside the balloon-patterned paper sits a card, addressed from them both, and a camera. He unpacks that, then lifts it up gently—it’s clearly a nice model, meant for professional photographers and the like. “I c—”

“If you say ‘I can’t accept this’ I’m eating this entire cake, right now.” Python was frighteningly good at predicting him sometimes. “And I hate cake.”

Defeated, Lukas simply thanks them.

“So—you like it?” Forsyth asks, voice trembling in a mix of anticipation and anxiety. “I noticed, that when—I mean, you liked—”

“I love it.” Lukas couldn’t think of a more perfect gift. “Can you stand there?” He points behind the cake.

“Huh? Sure.”

“You too, Python.”

With a shrug, he does as told.

_Flash_.

“A proper picture.”

“Eh? You should’ve warned us!” Forsyth tries to brush back his hair, but only succeeds in making it messier. “I look like I just woke up—I _did_ just wake up!”

“Relax, you look fine.” Python reaches over, mussing his hair even further.

“ _Python—!_ ”

“I…like it this way.” Getting dressed up only reminded him of stiff family photos and forced smiles.

“But it’s not right! You should be in the picture, it’s your birthday!”

_Actually, since it’s past midnight…_ “Someone has to take the picture.” Lukas never enjoyed looking at himself in photos. No matter the circumstance, it’s always felt oddly disappointing.

“Or you could figure out the timer.” Python cuts his excuse instantly.

Defeated yet again, Lukas fiddles with the camera. It’s not hard to figure out at all, a testament to how well it’s designed, so if he delays just a little no one realizes. Then to set up the stand, set the timer, and go to stand between Forsyth and Python.

Wait, how long did he set the time—

_Flash._

Immortalized in the photo is Lukas reaching out to the camera, mouth open about to say _Stop!_ , Forsyth tilting his head and blinking like a confused bird, and Python stifling a laugh behind one hand. His sudden movement had made him bump into the table, causing the already unstable cake to fall apart completely into a mush of icing and cake filling.

Forsyth dashes forward after he shakes away the afterimages of camera flash, hands hovering awkwardly above the cake, trying to set it upright but unwilling to actually get icing all over his hands. “It’s ruined!”

“Eh, it’ll taste the same.” Not that it matters to Python, who wouldn’t have eaten it anyway.

“I guess…” A sigh. “But after Tatiana helped me with it and everything…!”

“Tatiana?” The name sounded familiar, but Lukas couldn’t place it.

“From the bakery, remember?” Now he did. “She gave me instructions!”

“Only reason this place is still standing, probably.”

“I’m not _you,_ Python.”

“Then it’d be a shame to waste it, no?” Lukas interrupts, wanting to try the cake before his own exhaustion can catch up.

“Of course!” Forsyth hands him the cake knife, stepping aside.

Lukas cuts them both a generous slice, using a spoon to help him maneuver them into plates. Strawberries spill out of the middle. He looks to Python, who shakes his head, as expected.

The cake is just this side of too sweet, but when he takes a bite with a strawberry, it’s perfect. _They must be fresh._ “Forsyth, Python, I can’t thank you enough…”

“As long as you enjoyed yourself, that’s enough thanks for us!” Somehow he’s managed to get a dollop of icing on his nose.

“What he said,” Python chimes in. “Speaking of Tatiana…”

“Ah!” Forsyth quickly finishes off his cake. “I—We were thinking, um…” He glances to Python, who nods encouragingly. “There’s a lot of college kids working at the café, and one of them graduated, so there’s an open—anyway! The point is that Tatiana’s looking for a new employee, and I asked her if I could ask you before she put out a—” He finally runs out of breath, forced to pause. “So what do you think?”

“…You’re asking me if I want to work in Tatiana’s café?” Lukas checks. He hadn’t understood most of that with how fast he’d been talking.

A nod.

“I’m…not familiar with baking.” A non-answer.

“She says it’s not too hard to pick up! But you’d just be at the register, taking orders, I think.”

“I…”

“C’mon, Lukas! You hate your job. Jobs. You’re always tired, and you barely have any time to yourself. You _know_ this’ll be better for your schedule, and I’m sure it pays better…So why the excuses?” Python says it like it’s so simple that Lukas thinks maybe it is.

“You’re really serious…” So sudden and out of the blue, and it being two in the morning doesn’t help his worry that this is all an elaborate fever dream.

“I wouldn’t lie about something like this! So…that’s a yes?”

Python’s right. What’s there to lose? “Of course. It’d be foolish to refuse.”

If nothing else, the relief written plain on their faces is worth it.

* * *

 “Welcome to the Deliverance…Python?” Lukas forgets his usual greeting at the sight of a familiar face. Forsyth drops by often, but Python coming here is a rare sight, especially this early in the morning.

A shrug. “You open?”

“Just now, in fact,” he informs as the hour rolls over. “Coffee?”

“Black,” Python confirms. “But Forsyth’ll be here any second now.”

On cue, Forsyth bursts in. “Python! I told you to wait until opening!”

“Hey, it’s open _now_.”

“And for you?” Lukas asks, a bit louder than strictly necessary.

“Black coffee with one sugar, please!” With how much Forsyth likes sweets, it’s easy to forget he enjoys bitter drinks just as Python does.

Lukas passes on the orders, then sits at their table. It isn’t that busy this early on a Saturday.

“Come around to coffee yet?” Python teases, already knowing the answer.

“You’re not usually up this early.”

“Blame Fors.”

“Eh? You were the one who said you wanted to see him!”

“Me?” He’d seen Python just yesterday, though—as one does when they live together.

“I meant…here.” Python scratches the back of his neck, one of his rare nervous tics. “Wanted to see if you liked your new job or not. Was my idea to find something else for you, after all.”

“I was the one who picked here!” Forsyth chimes in. “Took a bit for an opening, but it worked out.”

“I…Why?” The question had hovered in his mind since that day, but Lukas never had the opportunity to ask.

As Python ponders over an answer, Lukas brings back their coffees.

“I thought…you could be better-off. Happier?” Drinking coffee serves as a convenient excuse not to hold eye contact. “Sounds silly, doesn’t it.”

_Not at all._

“With how much you were out, it was like Python was _still_ my only roommate!”

“You make that sound like a bad thing.”

“Would _you_ want to be stuck with just yourself?”

“…Point taken.”

“So it was just because you were both…worried about me?” The logical conclusion, but that can’t be it, can it?

“Mhm!”

“When you put it like that…yeah, pretty much.”

“…Ah.” Lukas looks down at the table, wishing he had a drink of his own to occupy his hands.

“Don’t overthink it.” _Straightforward as usual._

“We’re friends, after all!”

“Friends,” Lukas repeats. “Yes…that’s it,” he realizes, smiling wider than he can ever remember smiling before.

**Author's Note:**

> my twitter is [core_shift](https://twitter.com/core_shift) if anyone wants to hmu


End file.
